Category: Journal

By Isla Quinn Spin a Channapatna toy and the lacquer catches the light in a way plastic never does. A little uneven. A little warm. Clearly made by a hand, not poured from a mould. The town’s toy trade is usually traced to Tipu Sultan, the eighteenth-century ruler of Mysore, who was a known patron…

By Ines Keane A finished piece of Kutch embroidery moves when the light does. Small mirrors, called abhla, catch it and throw it back across dense stitching. “Kutch embroidery” is not one craft but many. The region has well over a dozen styles, each tied to a community: the Rabari, Ahir, Mutwa, Meghwal, Sodha Rajput,…